Language rules of the European Patent with Unitary Effect

There are many languages spoken in the EU, and so the language used for the unitary patent has always been a difficult political sticking point. The EPO has been working with Google to improve machine translation for the technical subject-matter contained in patents. So, it is proposed that the unitary patent will be available automatically in all of the languages of the participating Member states by machine translations.

However, the legislation recognises that machine translations are not fit for purpose at the moment. So, the unitary patent is translated into a second language until machine translations reach an acceptable standard. The transitional period will last no more than 12 years.

For European patent applications granted in English, the patent is translated into the language of any one of the other participating EU member states. For European patent applications granted in French or German, the patent is translated into English.

Hello,
In the coming EUP - in its promoters' intentions - each and every patent application will be linguistically valid if submitted in any of the three EPO official languages (German, French, English).
Yet, Italy and Spain have not ratified the related agreement, therefore a version in Spanish and Italian will still be needed to validate in these two countries.
In comparison to the past European Patent system (until London Agreement 2008), the costs for translations will be significantly reduced.
In comparison to the current system (after London Agreement) translation costs will not be significantly reduced, since also in this case you'll only have to pay for translations in Spain and Italy.
Given that major decisions still have to be taken regarding courts and fees, the EUP model actually could be not really convenient.
Anyway, what impacts the most in validating in Europe is the cost of middlemen involved in the process, and not of translations.
I'm available to explain in further details.